


why she disappeared

by bubblelaureno



Category: Love Island (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:41:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29684142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblelaureno/pseuds/bubblelaureno
Summary: When Astrid kisses a random stranger in a club bathroom, she tries everything to find that person, until they unexpectedly meet.Updates on Mondays!
Relationships: Lottie/Main Character (Love Island), Marisol & Main Character (Love Island)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> “without your past,
> 
> you could never have arrived
> 
> so wondrously and brutally,
> 
> by design or some violent, exquisite happenstance
> 
> …here.”
> 
> I started this on New Year’s Eve. I’ve tweaked it majorly since then, but I have a new fic. This one’s an AU, and even I don’t know what’s going to happen here. I won’t put it on an update schedule as of yet, until I decide what’s happening here.

Astrid wasn’t usually the type to sleep in quite this late, despite being a night owl and usually staying up late. But last night was wild, one minute she was completely sober, the next, 6 hours of her life vanished from her memory entirely with no drunk posts online or drunk texts at all. No evidence, apart from a mysterious number on her hand, inked in purple pen. Thankfully, she had the weekend off, and no plans.

Her eyes opened, and she straightened up carefully, grabbing a glass of water and a paracetamol that drunk Astrid had thankfully left behind. She took the medication with a swig of water, drinking the rest of the glass slowly to ease her pounding headache. She was mostly fine, despite drinking a lot last night, a benefit of being able to handle a lot of alcohol. She stood up, returning the glass to the sink. As she set it down, she was drawn to the purple pen. _How did that get there? How strange. And a very unfamiliar handwriting too._

She shook her head, grabbing her phone from its charger. The time was 2pm, which explained why the flat is so quiet. She’s usually awoken by noise from outside, Central London wasn’t known for being quiet. She checked her phone, finding texts from everyone she expected. 

Astrid stared at her phone, slightly stunned. She tried to think back, but only remembered the pre drinks at the flat with Marisol. They had planned for it to be just a best friends thing, but Marisol’s girlfriend happened to be at the same bar, so being a third wheel wasn’t fun. She appreciated the fact that Marisol and Alecto were happy together, but Marisol was so busy that it was hard to pencil in time to see her. Uni was definitely taking a lot out of her, despite being flatmates it was difficult to see her.

_Sometimes, you just want to spend time with your best friend, it’s difficult when she’s so busy. You can’t remember much at all, but it does scare you a little to find the truth out._

She skimmed through her phone notifications, checking what she missed. She heard the front door slam shut, and jumped out of her skin, dropping her phone on the counter. Thankfully it wasn’t damaged, she scooped it up and checked it. Marisol came into the kitchen like a short whirlwind, depositing her bags down on the counter with a thud.

“Are you...okay?” Astrid studied her carefully, tilting her head to the side. “You’re not usually back this early, or even up when we’ve been out the night before.”

Marisol ignored the question, focusing on unpacking her shopping. She appeared to be holding back tears, being so noisy was a clear coping mechanism. Once her bags were empty, she turned to face Astrid. Her eyes darted to the purple pen on Astrid’s hand and she gently grasped it, examining the handwriting.

“That’s strange... Where did that purple pen come from?” Marisol’s voice cut off mid sentence. 

“You’re telling me! Seriously Mari, are you okay?”

To Astrid’s surprise, tears started to appear in Marisol’s eyes and she stared at the floor. “You’re so hard to keep stuff from. You disappeared last night, I was so worried. Alecto had a family emergency last night, so she vanished too, but I at least knew where she went. You really scared me.” Marisol’s voice wobbled and she sighed softly. “At least you’re fine now. I’m not sure if you realised, but…”

“I don’t remember anything from last night. Least of all disappearing. I was hoping you might.” 

The flat was silent while Marisol sorted through her thoughts and looked up at Astrid. Due to the height difference, she had to stretch to meet her eyes. “I can’t help you there. All I do remember is you going off with a random girl, then I didn’t see you at all the whole night. Trust you to disappear and meet a random girl. Peak Astrid behaviour.” Marisol’s words were unexpectedly spiky, causing Astrid to study her carefully. “I’m sorry. That was mean.”

“Hey. If you’re mad because I left you, I’m sorry. If something else is up, you can just tell me.” Astrid moved closer to Marisol, placing gentle hands on her shoulders. 

Marisol hid behind a curtain of long hair, not moving from her place. Silence filled the flat as she sorted through her thoughts. “I...I thought you were going to leave me. Like Olivia, like everyone else. To leave without me knowing what I did wrong, and leave me chasing after you again. I’m already so isolated, I can’t lose you…” her voice wobbled and she winced, pulling back her words. “Being left like that was pretty shitty of you, don’t you think? Even if you don’t remember it. You tell me over and over that you want to go out with me more, and I can’t help being busy and having to fit stuff around my schedule. I thought you understood that, at least a little bit, but I guess not. I was worried sick all night, I didn’t drink at all. I texted you a lot too, I know I suck in general at staying in contact but you really scared me and I can’t just write this off that easily…” her words were interrupted by a sob and she covered her mouth. 

“Mari, I’m really sorry. Nothing makes any sense currently, and my phone died. Which isn’t an excuse, but that didn’t help matters clearly.” Astrid let go of Marisol’s shoulders and wrapped her arms around her best friend, pulling her into a hug. Marisol hid in Astrid’s shoulder, ducking her head slightly. 

“Urgh. I don’t usually get like this, I’m sorry. I had to take myself out for a bit, and that didn’t help things. I don’t usually go out that early on a weekend. I’ve been stuck in my head all day. I do appreciate the apology, I haven’t seen Alecto either, but that makes more sense given her family emergency. I didn’t plan to bump into her, you do know that, right? I did intend on it just being us, I promise.” Her words were muffled, due to still hiding her face in Astrid’s shoulder. She had removed her glasses earlier, she was certain tears would be inevitable. 

“I did think that. It was weird that you weren’t here. Look, I don’t mind as much about us bumping into Alecto, it was a complete coincidence. I’m not sure if I disappeared then, or something. I’m trying to make sense of this, but there’s too many gaps. I didn’t even drink that much.” 

“Wait. Why would you disappear because of her?” Marisol moved away and looked up at her, pushing her long hair from her face. 

Astrid sighed and bit her lip, looking to the floor. Addressing Marisol directly became difficult, she really didn’t want to hurt her feelings. 

“It sounds awful, but I get slightly jealous of you two. Being a third wheel isn’t great, but I didn’t want to hurt either of you by saying that. My jealousy issues are mine to tackle, not yours. Did you see me leave with someone? Or are you just guessing too? I’m just trying to fill gaps.” Astrid worried her lip with a finger, and fiddled with loose blonde hair, curling it around her fingers. 

“It doesn’t sound awful. I get it and the fact you address it is good. I do need to work on spending time with just you a bit more, I’ve noticed how much time I do spend with her. I didn’t, no. Once Alecto had left, I noticed you’d gone too, and that did scare me. I didn’t understand how I’d not noticed before. But the pen on your wrist...is definitely interesting. I don’t recognise that handwriting.” Marisol lightly grasped Astrid’s wrist and scanned it over. “I would say to text that number, but that would be a little risky. Especially considering the gaps in your memory.” _That’s definitely right. It’s already super strange that this appeared._

“That wouldn’t be a good idea. But what else can I do? I want to solve this.Trying to puzzle over it is doing me no good.”

“Retrace your steps. I’ll come with you, I’m caught up on all my uni work anyway. That might bring something back. But I wouldn’t recommend going out in your pajamas, and I need to change these shoes anyway.” Marisol laughed slightly and poked her in the arm. Astrid rubbed her arm in mock horror, before nodding and making her way into her room. 

She popped her head around the doorway and turned to face Marisol. “See you in about 15 minutes. I’ll need food too, but we can do that on the way. We’ve got nothing in the fridge apart from dodgy veg.”

She was about to close her door when Marisol laughed slightly. “That’s why I went out to buy food. But it will save time to have lunch out, you’re right.” 

Astrid gave her a thumbs up before closing her door. She changed into her usual: a long sleeved black t-shirt and black jeans, paired with her flowered leather jacket. She slid a hair band into her long blonde hair. Then retrieved her flowery Docs from under her bed, and a pair of socks. Once she was ready, she retrieved her bag and made her way into the kitchen, grabbing her phone from the counter. 

She leant against the counter and waited for Marisol, fiddling with a bracelet on her wrist. _For someone who doesn’t usually forget stuff, having this gap in your memory is concerning._

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Two people who both had bad memories were hardly the best to be doing this, both Marisol and Astrid found out quickly. 

“Where did we even go? London has a lot of clubs and bars,” Astrid grumbled, pushing hair from her face.

“Your guess is as good as mine, especially when it was you who picked where we went last night. Slow down, I can’t keep up with you. Not everyone’s naturally blessed with long legs.” Marisol was practically jogging, slightly out of breath next to her. 

“Would Alecto know by any chance? Or is her memory as shit as both of ours?” Astrid slowed to a stop, and eyed Marisol carefully, who was glaring at her. “Look, don’t be offended, you’ve literally said as much before.” 

“She might. It’s worth a shot anyway.” Marisol retrieved her phone from her pocket and started to text her girlfriend as she walked.  _ Okay. Marisol’s still a little upset then, be a bit more careful with her.  _

“Maybe we can stop in a café for lunch? Then keep looking. We’re obviously getting nowhere, and I know I’m not very useful while hungry. I know I’m being a slight arsehole, and I’m sorry.” Astrid nudged her in the arm and Marisol gave her a soft smile.

“No, you’re not. I’m not helping matters. I should start making more time for you, I know. It’s just...Alecto has a schedule that I have to fit around, and you…”

“If you’re going to say that I don’t have a schedule, just because I study fine art doesn’t mean that I don’t have a schedule! I wouldn’t imply that for you, even though you likely work too much.” Astrid’s words softened, the bite in her words lessening as she looked over to Marisol in concern. “Even law students deserve a break. I mean, Alecto’s doing medicine and still manages time off! I’m a little bit worried about you, it can’t be too healthy.”

_ She’s right. You don’t want to admit it, but she’s right. You’re turning into Charlotte, that’s not good. She was overly judgmental of everything. Especially things seen as not useful. Arts degrees and humanities degrees were included in that list of hers, the degrees that people shouldn’t take if they didn’t want to end up wasting their time. Astrid clearly isn’t though. She’s so talented. _

Marisol fell silent, and sighed. She focused on the street in front of her and spotted a café further down. She sped up, leaving Astrid to trail behind her. Her lead didn’t last for long, Astrid’s height causing her to catch up in no time. Just as she was about to speak, Marisol quickly ducked into a small cafe. 

Thankfully, it wasn’t a Starbucks or a chain; she loved supporting smaller businesses. She stood in the doorway and blinked slightly, taking in the bright environment, and the smell of coffee and strangely...bread. She moved forward to avoid blocking the doorway, and hoped Astrid had followed her in. 

Just as the door opened again, a tall blonde pushed past her, causing her to wobble on her feet. She gained back her balance holding onto the small table by the entryway and took in a surprised intake of breath as she righted herself again. 

“Arsehole!” She heard Astrid snap from her position and had to hide a grin behind her hand. Not because it was funny, but because Astrid wasn’t the type to let stuff go.

“Excuse me. You’re the one who walked into me! You were in my way, not the other way around,” the other girl snapped, lifting her hands in frustration. Marisol’s breath caught in her throat as she realised she recognised the girl. Charlotte thankfully didn’t recognise her, but her ex best friend would be hard to forget. She was the only one allowed to call her Charlotte, they had dated in the past which had caused their friendship to fall apart. Astrid had come into her life during A Levels, and she had met Alecto in halls at university. Despite being on different courses, the two girls clicked easily. Her girlfriend definitely changed her life for the better, she didn’t have any other friends on her course, which was something she was majorly insecure about. She struggled to see her life without the two of them, after Lottie and finding her with Hannah at that party, letting other people past her walls was difficult. 

“You should’ve checked to see if there was anyone coming in first. It’s your own fault you lost your drink.”

“You should really buy me a new one! You walked into me, after all!” Lottie hissed at Astrid, the slightly shorter girl holding her own. Astrid was pretty tall, but Lottie towered over her.

She heard footsteps come up beside her and turned her head to see a man with dreadlocks, lighter brown skin and freckles make his way over to the argument. 

“Enough! Both of you. Lottie, what have I told you about starting arguments with people?” 

“She walked into me and made me drop my drink,” Lottie grumbled. “She should have checked first and should buy me a new one.”

Marisol laughed behind her hand and ducked behind a tall plant to watch without either of them noticing her.

“She walked into me, actually. Also she barged into my friend in the cafe too. She shouldn’t expect everyone to bend to her every whim. I’m not buying her a new drink either. I shouldn’t be expected to.”

Lottie blinked her eyes at the newcomer, trying to coax him around to her side. “Please Bobby! You’re a good friend, aren’t you?” She looked absolutely ridiculous.

“I can’t force someone to spend money if they don’t want to. It was your fault, you should have looked before going outside, and I saw you walk into the other girl too. You should apologise, but the least I can expect is for you to let this go.” Bobby explained, trying to reason with Lottie, who stamped her foot and stormed off, leaving without a second thought. 

Marisol moved out from behind the plant and looked over to Astrid, who seemed impressed.

“Well. That was Lottie. She’s a little...hard to deal with. I’m sorry for that, would a free coffee sweeten the deal?” Bobby said, moving into the cafe again, holding the door for Astrid.

“Ah. Is that a polite way of saying rude mega bitch, perhaps?” Astrid put a finger to her lip in thought and followed him back inside. “And go on then. Why not? I appreciate the offer, thanks. But I’m paying for my own food.” 

Bobby smiled at her. “Excellent. That I can do.” He made his way back behind the counter.

Astrid nudged Marisol’s arm as she came past. “Oi, you can just go and sit down and save us a table. It’s my treat for coming on this wild goose chase with me.”

Marisol nodded, finding a table by the window, and retrieved her phone from her bag to check for a text from Alecto. She became aware of Astrid’s reappearance when a tray landed on the table in front of her, and Astrid flopped on the chair across from her.

“Wow. What a rude person! I hate people like that. At least I got free drinks. Benefits to arseholes, eh?” Astrid nudged her arm, moving a plate in front of her with a sausage roll on it. “Didn’t know what you wanted, so got you a sausage roll. Any luck yet? Does Alecto know anything?”

“Haven’t had a response yet. Not everyone spends their weekends on a wild goose chase, after all.” Marisol forced herself to hold her tongue before she snapped at Astrid again, focusing on the sausage roll and black coffee before her. 

Astrid cackled and winked at her. “Indeed they don’t. That’s why we’re special. You did disappear on me though. Are you okay? Or do you not want to talk about it? No judgment if you don’t.”

“I’m...fine, I just saw a nice looking cafe. I don’t really want to talk about it.” The words sat heavy on her tongue, she wanted desperately to tell the truth for a change. She was struggling, and did want to talk to someone about it.  _ You can handle things, don’t bother someone else with your problems. _

“It’s a nice cafe. Paisley Cuddle, apparently. You picked well with your random choice. If you ever want to talk, just let me know.” Astrid smiled at her and took a delicate bite of her food. 

As they focused on their lunches, a comfortable silence grew between them. Lottie from earlier was forgotten, and the memories of the past with her.


	3. Chapter 3

Lottie stormed off down the street, her rage fuelling her. _Bobby took her side! Really, it was obvious that girl did it on purpose. It doesn’t explain what happened last night either, you apparently disappeared with some random girl. Why you’d do that, you don’t know. What a waste of perfectly good coffee. There’s clearly something wrong with that second girl. You did walk into someone else though, now you remember. That was pretty rude of you._

Lottie binned the empty cup, and ducked into a Starbucks to buy herself more coffee. Black, as usual. She would secretly add sugar and milk to it, but it still counted as black. _Black like your soul. Well, it fits into the aesthetic thing. At least it didn’t spill on you earlier._

She checked before leaving this time, avoiding spilling her drink. She started to make her way back home until her phone started ringing. She retrieved it from her bag, taking a seat on a bench by the river. She checked the caller, noticing her best friend and flatmate Lauren’s name on the display. She answered the call and put it on speaker phone, rolling her eyes slightly. Most people knew not to call her, apart from in an emergency.

“What is it?” She started off, her voice clipped. She had intended to spend the day alone, having an unexpected phone call wasn’t her idea of fun.

“Wow, you’re cheerful today.” She could hear clear sarcasm over the phone and knew Lauren was likely rolling her eyes. “Just wanted to say that we’ve ran out of milk and you’re out so I wanted to let you know. I did text you, but you didn’t get back to me. Part of sharing a house means splitting the food shop.”

“Fine, thanks. I thought you don’t drink milk.”

“I don’t. And what’s with the tone? Something’s clearly up, you’re not usually quite this grouchy.” Lauren replied. _Aha. Now you can rant without limits._

“I bought coffee from Paisley Cuddle earlier. As I was leaving, a rude person walked directly into me. Thankfully I didn’t spill anything on me, but I lost a very good coffee! Paisley Cuddle doesn’t do cheap coffee, that’s for sure. I’m not sure why Bobby has such high prices, but the coffee is good. She yelled at me, called me an ‘arsehole’ to be exact, and got very arsey with me. I tried to get her to buy me a new one, but she wasn’t budging. I did walk into someone else, but that was entirely my fault, and I kept hold of the coffee the first time. Bobby took the side of the rude girl, basically told me to leave or apologise, and I left. It was very unfair to ask that of me, I didn’t do anything wrong. Wait, why are you laughing?” Lottie raised an eyebrow, listening to the laughter on the other end of the line.

“It’s pretty petty to be mad over, don’t you think? Oh, wait. I forgot who I was talking to. I can’t believe you did it twice, also. Was walking into the first person not enough to alert you to the fact that people exist?” Lauren replied, laughter present in her words. 

“Typical. First Bobby and now you. Why’s everyone blaming me? Hmph. See you later.” She hung up the call quickly before Lauren had a chance to respond. _Right. Everyone can’t take her side, right? This is so unfair!_

She opened the group chat and poured out all her woes in text form, whining about her experience. In no time at all, a reply appeared.

 **Elisa:** How rude indeed. You should definitely have got her to pay for it, that’s not on. 

**Lottie:** Thank you! Someone’s finally on my side. 

So far, MK hadn’t responded yet. Bobby was in work, of course, so wouldn’t respond.

 **Lauren: 😂😂** Really? You don’t get your required response from me so you ask the group chat about such a petty thing. Wow, Charlotte.

Lottie glared at her screen at the mention of her full name and was about to put her phone back in her bag when a second question came to mind.

 **Lottie:** Have you by any chance, worked out who I disappeared with last night yet? I don’t remember staying with her for long, as I returned back to the group quickly. I wasn’t even that drunk, and was waiting in a queue for the loo.

 **Elisa:** A description might help. And London’s massive, we might not even see her again.

 **Lottie:** Long straight blonde hair, about 5’6/5‘7. Seemed arty. That’s not much to go on, though.

 **Elisa:** Maybe an art student? How old do you think?

 **Lottie:** Yeah, that’s a good shout. I’d say 19 or 20. 

**Elisa:** So, maybe a first or second year. I’ll ask around at uni. Maybe she goes to Central Saint Martins? 

**Lottie:** That would be convenient. If she does, she must be good.

Lottie waited for responses and chucked her phone back in her bag after a couple of minutes. _Okay. Still no luck with the wild goose chase then. She might have luck eventually. Right, milk._

She stood and started walking again, making her way to the nearest Tesco. Milk was last on her priority list, but she did use the last bit this morning.

She ignored her phone beeping, and grabbed a basket, retrieving food for later while she was at it, grabbing a pizza, and milk. She nearly bumped into a tall blonde, who glared at her and turned to her shorter friend, who appeared to be hiding behind the taller girl. _Weird. Why’s she hiding from you? You really need to be more mindful._

“Sorry, wasn’t looking where I was going.” She offered a spiky apology, and the girl rolled her eyes. 

“Seriously. You, again? Isn’t walking into me once enough for today? Wanted to try again?” She snapped, looking at her like gum on the bottom of her shoe.

“I did apologise this time.” Lottie pointed out.

The shorter girl pulled the blonde’s arm. “Come on, Astrid. You can’t be getting into arguments with everyone you bump into!”

Astrid glared at Lottie one last time before turning on her heel, and letting her shorter friend lead her off. _That’s even more rude. She wasn’t with someone earlier though. Unless she was, and you didn’t notice._


	4. Chapter 4

Marisol let go of Astrid’s arm once there was enough of a gap between them. Astrid sighed and looked over at her. “Seriously now, are you okay? You’re worrying me.” She studied Marisol carefully, noticing Marisol’s misty eyes and how pale she’d gone.

Marisol opened and shut her mouth, clearly struggling for something to say. As Astrid was about to check again, Marisol’s phone beeped and she retrieved it from her pocket in relief. She was absorbed in the screen, her head dipped slightly before it. She moved aside to let someone with a trolley pass, and looked up momentarily.

“Heard from Alecto then?” Astrid tried another tactic and gently put her hand on Marisol’s shoulder. Opting for a flat shared between the two of them during second year was the best option for Marisol, and Astrid was relieved she’d asked her to share. She was originally getting a house with her friends, but because she was worried about Marisol, she opted to share a flat with Marisol instead. Marisol had absolutely hated being in halls for first year, and agreed to get a flat with Astrid in second year, despite going to different universities. Astrid could quite easily have decided to get a house with her friends, but she felt wary about abandoning Marisol like that.  _ Part of that was genuine pity, it’s clear how isolated she is. Apart from you and Alecto, she doesn’t talk to many people. Which makes it even more strange how off she’s being. _

Marisol moved away slightly, Astrid’s arm slipping from her shoulder. “She didn’t see anyone either. I’m fine, please just drop it…” her voice wavered and she looked into the distance.

“As long as you’re sure. Come on then, let's get this over with. Fingers crossed we have some leads at some point. This limbo is a little bit frustrating.” Astrid swung her free arm slightly, the purple writing catching the light. The purple pen still remained on her wrist, no amount of hand washing would remove it. 

Marisol gently caught her wrist and studied the writing, her face turning pale as she looked at it. She blinked and dropped Astrid’s hand, wide-eyed. Without saying anything, she bolted down the fruit aisle, making her way over to the queue for self-checkout. 

Astrid followed her, joining the queue just behind her.  _ That’s weird. Does she know something or recognise the writing? You’re not going to get anything from her when she’s like this.  _

“Hey, do you know something? About the writing on my hand.” Astrid nudged her and Marisol turned to face her with her basket.

“Umm…no. Why would I?” Marisol’s expression flickered slightly, her forced smile wobbling for a moment. The smile didn’t reach her eyes, and was far too wide to be real. Marisol’s smiles were always small and delicate, the slightest change in expression clear about her. 

The queue moved forward, and Marisol turned back around. The look in her eyes haunted Astrid, the reflection of her clear struggle present.  _ She is very private, so it does make sense that she’s trying to keep stuff from you. But all day her struggles have been so prevalent. She’s been even more uneasy since the situation with Lottie happened earlier, that arsehole. And considerably more quiet. Yet she dodges every question you ask her, so you probably need to back off.  _

Astrid tried to focus on the queue, moving forward despite her mind being elsewhere. Her eyes were trained on the back of Marisol’s head, the loose braid wrapped around her head coming undone. She had tried to teach Marisol a number of little hairstyles because she asked for the help, but it made both of them very frustrated. Marisol could never understand that perfection was impossible, and got fed up very quickly. They were so different, it sometimes surprised Astrid that their friendship had lasted. Especially when Marisol appeared so distant recently. 

As she came to the front of the queue and made her way to the self-checkout, paying for the shopping came priority to her. Even though Marisol had bought some things earlier, Astrid also wanted to help contribute. And food shopping would be a way to make sure their outing wasn’t entirely wasted. The identity of the mysterious stranger was still unknown, and a considerable gap stayed in her memory. As she finished paying for her shopping, she slid it into her bag and made her way over to Marisol. They made their way to the underground in silence, an odd feeling between them. 

Once on the tube, Astrid checked her phone, not wanting to stay staring at Marisol. Nothing new, other than a couple of cat videos and a considerable amount of messages from her group chats.

She opened one of her Facebook chats, scanning the messages until her phone beeped again, and she scrolled to the most recent part of the chat.

**Elisa:** my friend met someone yesterday, and lost contact so this is worth a shot. Anyone know someone who meets this description: long straight blonde hair, wide set brown eyes, about 5’6/5’7 approximately. Possibly a first or second year art student, no idea which course, or even if she goes to the uni. Thought I’d ask just in case. 

Astrid’s eyes widened as she stared at her phone, fiddling with her own long blonde hair. The description was considerably vague, so the friend might not be the one she was looking for.  _ But what if it was? And you’re friends with Elisa in the first place, so if it’s someone in her circle, that makes sense.  _

She was about to text Elisa back on the chat before Marisol nudged her from her spot next to her.

“We’re the next stop now, so I’d get ready to go.” 

Astrid nodded, slipping her phone in her pocket again and stood up, grabbing a handle and braced herself. The train stopped, and they got off, making their way out of the tube station and outside. 

“Umm…Astrid?” Marisol said, her voice uncertain.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry for being so snappy with you, and dodging everything. It’s just...Alecto forgot she was meeting her sister later, so I’m stuck in the flat, I guess. I was already feeling a bit...off after yesterday, and how you left me in the bar like that. I know you keep trying to make up for that, and thank you. I’m still not ready to discuss things, and don’t particularly want to be alone tonight. Urgh. It sounds so stupid, being like this over a cancelled date.” Marisol fiddled with a loose curl of hair and ducked her head.

“I’m free tonight anyway. So I’d be up for pizza and watching something if you like. I don’t mind one bit, you’re my best friend, of course I can make time for you.” She squeezed Marisol’s hand and stopped in the middle of the pavement, looking at her directly.  _ Maybe you should say something, to prove that you care about her? You’ve barely seen her recently and the fact she’s actually addressing her feelings is big.  _ “Listen to me a second. You’re allowed to be upset. She gave you a heads up and all, but still, it makes sense being disappointed. I’m still sorry I left you in the bar alone. That was seriously shit of me, even if there wasn’t other stuff going on. Also I care about you, so does Alecto.”

Marisol nodded. “Thank you. I just...I feel lonely sometimes. You’re thriving, I’m just holding you back. I’m trying to live up to the example my brother set, yet I’ll always fall short. I just need to accept that, I guess.” 

“You shouldn’t settle for less because it’s easier. You deserve genuine relationships, and I won’t leave you like that. I promise.” Astrid squeezed her hand again. “Oh shit. I’ve got fridge stuff, so we probably need to get back.”

Marisol nodded and started walking, linking hands with her. Astrid looked over, noticing that her best friend seemed slightly warmer, and she breathed a sigh of relief.  _ She’s still struggling, but at least you know some of it now. She’s always been quiet, but it’s a worry when she shuts down like that. _


End file.
